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Links I Loved This Week – 08/05/17

August 5, 2017

Why the cake in the post image you ask? This week was Novels And Nonfiction’s one year anniversary! I actually created the blog in July of 2016, but my first post was on August 3rd 2016. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been blogging for a whole year (probably because I took a break from February to May due to my new job), but I do feel a lot more experienced in creating content and promoting it semi-effectively. There’s still a lot to learn but the process so far has been more than rewarding.

I’m also one week away from my well-deserved vacation home to Milan to see my family. I’m a bit undecided as to whether I’ll put blogging on hold for the week or not. Usually I go for two weeks but this time I’ll be there for just over one week, so I want to make sure I’m primarily focusing on spending time with family and eating the equivalent of my body weight in Italian food every. single. day.

To continue with the trend of how I discover a new meme from the book world each week that is super popular but that somehow I knew nothing about, this week I found out about Six In Six. It was started by Jo at The Book Jotter and it basically involves sharing books you’ve read in the first six months of the year by grouping them into six categories. I found out about it through Hopewell’s Public Library Of Life’s Six In Six post, which I found an excellent source of potential TBR fodder. I also read The Secret Library’s Six In Six post as well. If you wrote one recently, share it with me in the comments!

I think we all struggle with this as book bloggers, so I really found Rambling Lisa’s Book Reviews’ topic of Posting A Review When You Dislike The Book so interesting. I approach this a few different ways. For features on my website like Book Of The Month I will review all picks, whether I liked them or not. However, if after reading a Net Galley review copy or book I picked up myself I end up not thinking I can give it 3 stars or more, I tend to not review it. My recent post on 3 Nonfiction Books You Might Want To Skip was a recent exception to this.

This review of Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty on Inside My Library Mind reminded me of how much I loved the book. I listed it as my favorite out of the five Liane Moriarty books I’ve read so far in my Author Spotlight of her. I have a copy of What Alice Forgot that has been staring at me from my TBR list, and reading Inside My Library Mind’s review made me feel like finally picking it up and possibly The Hypnotist’s Love Story as well, so I can complete my reading of Moriarty’s novels.

Jackie on Death by Tsundoku is continuing her series on book clubs, and this week’s topic was on the advantages and drawbacks of In-Person vs. Online book clubs. I typically struggle with actually engaging consistently in online book clubs, and I’ve found my in-person book club here in LA much more rewarding. Having said that, it’s clear that Online book clubs are the more practical or effective choice for some.

On Thursday I published a review of the audiobook version of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, narrated by Simon Slater. It has now skyrocketed to the top position of my favorite audiobooks of all time list, thanks to the amazing narration which brought Mantel’s elaborate prose and complex characters to life.

I’ve been thinking about scheduling a solo weekend trip either this Fall or in the Spring to one of the cities in the U.S. or Canada that I haven’t visited yet. I’ve never traveled alone like that before, but I think it would be a great experience to try it – maybe I’ll end up loving it. I found this article on Wit & Delight on The Case For Traveling Alone inspiring.

Thanks to my new Ninja Blender I’m slowly becoming obsessed with morning smoothies, but I am a bit stuck in a milk/greens/fruit/honey rut. This Smoothie Of The Day chart on Weelicious may provide some inspiration to branch out into using coconut water or almond milk as my base, adding some new extras or varying my fruits and veggies more.

Any articles or blog posts from the book world that you really enjoyed this week? Share them in the comments!

30 comments for “Links I Loved This Week – 08/05/17”

Interesting discussion about posting negative reviews. Personally, I’m in the habit of writing an honest review of almost every book I read, which means that if I dislike a book, even if it’s from Netgalley etc., I’m going to review it. But when writing negative reviews I always try to make the distinction between what I found objectively bad and what just didn’t work for me personally – I rarely try to discourage others from reading the book, just explain why I didn’t care for it.

I chose The Heart’s Invisible Furies for BOTM and am really looking forward to it!

Thanks for the mention 😊 As you know, I love this feature and look forward to it every week! And happy blog birthday 🎉
The online vs in-person bookclub was a good post, personally I like online book clubs 😊 I set one up on Instagram for fans of crime/mystery/thrillers – @criminallygoodbookclub

Go for it on traveling alone. The first time I went to Europe the friend I was going with had to back out of the trip, so I decided to go alone. It was a great experience and I met so many fun people that month of traveling solo.

So many things happened this past week! The 6 in 6 meme is new to me, but I really love the idea. It’s a fun TTT-esque concept! I almost want to do it. Perhaps a future post… 😉

I hope you take a break when you are in Milan! You deserve to spend the time with your family. What Italian foods are you specifically looking forward to consuming? I want to live vicariously through you. That said, I imagine avocado toast might be on the back burner for that week…

Thanks! I’m definitely hoping to keep it up without it feeling burdensome. The 2 review posts plus 1 links I loved post I was in a groove with before leaving felt pretty sustainable. It’s keeping up with the reading that is tricky too. I’ve found that what I struggle with most is blogging about super current titles or themes, which would probably bolster my traffic. For now I’m focusing more on just what is of interest to me to read :

That’s what I do– I just read and talk about what I want to talk about. Honestly, I don’t blog because I want it to be my full-time job or to make money or be popular or anything like that. Nope. Instead I just want to share my love for the books I love. 🙂

I’m glad you found a groove which seems to be working for you! I hope it continues to NOT be a burden.

It’s my 4th day here and I’m gorging myself on pasta (carbonara and schiaffoni alla provola) and pizza, as well as having a ton of gelato and enjoying my usual summer drinks that you can’t find in the US (esta té and chinotto). Tonight I’m going to one of my favorite restaurants and having cotoletta alla Milanese 🙂 I’m holding off completely on blogging so I have more time to relax but the good thing is I’ve also had a lot of time to read. I’ve finished 2 books since I left and am almost done with 2 more. Lots to review when I get back 🙂

Oh wow! That sounds like so much fun– and super filling! Nom nom nom. I had chinotto when I was in the Venice airport on our way home from Croatia– I love how bitter it is. Enjoy everything while you are there and don’t fret about blogging or reviews; you can worry about what when you come back. 😀